Musandam-Oman Sail triumphed in the bid to add valuable points to their tally after passing the Leg 5 scoring gate in third place as the closing moments of the MOD70 European Tour 2012 become a scramble for position.
As the only boat in the fleet without bonus points, despite scoring gates in each of the four previous legs, the crew on the Oman flagship resolved to use Leg 5 from Marseille to Genoa to open the Musandam-Oman Sail account.
“We finally got a point which is good because it keeps us in position,” said a delighted Brian Thompson this morning as Musandam-Oman Sail tore through the Mediterranean Sea towards Giraglia in Corsica at around 25 knots.
Musandam-Oman Sail must stay one place ahead of Steve Ravussin’s Race for Water, who they lead by just one point, to be sure of a coveted podium place and in front of Sebastien Josse’s Groupe Edmonde de Rothschild currently in fifth place overall.
With neither rivals picking up scoring gate points and the lead over Race for Water effectively doubling to two points, hopes were running high that the podium remained firmly in sight, said Thompson.
“We are blasting along at around 25 knots with all the other boats in sight so it is pretty much level pegging at the moment,” he said.
“We are pushing hard because we want to do as well as we can and anything is possible because it is so close. We had a full moon last night and now dawn has just broken and the sun is up – we have beautiful sailing conditions.
“We are reaching to Giraglia and should have breeze all the way though things are expected to get a little light towards the finish in Genoa and that may give us more opportunities to improve our position.”
In the meantime, the crew are grabbing opportunities to sleep when possible, which for Thompson has meant a quick 20minute nap since the start of the 651nms leg.
“There hasn’t been a lot of sleep – things have been a bit bumpy and we are pushing hard but there may be more opportunities in the next few hours if we continue to make good progress,” he said.
While they were keeping their eye on Race for Water, the focus was on sailing their own race, as they had done since the start of the event said Mohsin Al Busaidi, who was back in action after missing Leg 4.
One of three Omani sailors to be selected as members of the Musandam-Oman Sail offshore and inshore crews, Al Busaidi has been a key part of the success but with just hours to go before the end of the event, having completed 3,700 miles of offshore racing over four weeks, he was keeping his attentions focussed on the here and now rather than think about the finish in Genoa.
“We have to stay in front of Race for Water and Groupe Edmonde de Rothschild and that is our priority because we want to finish on the podium,” he said.
“But if we cannot be on the podium, we will know that we have tried our hardest. These crews are all great sailors and none of them are easy to beat.”
Musandam-Oman Sail and its multinational crew of Omanis and Europeans have played an important role during the MOD70 European Tour 2012 as ambassadors for the country and in meeting Oman Sail’s objective to develop young Omanis through the sport of sailing and raise awareness of the country as a high end tourist destination.
Starting from Kiel in Germany and stopping at Dun Laoghaire in Ireland, Cascais in Portugal and Marseille in France, the colourful MOD70 trimaran and its captivating crew have attracted attention wherever they have travelled and the Oman exhibition tent, which has also been on tour, has introduced tens of thousands of people to the country.
Having won the Cascais City Race and the offshore leg from Cascais to Marseille, the team knows it has the ability despite being the most inexperienced in the fleet and with just one day to go to the end of the final offshore leg of the circuit, Musandam-Oman Sail is doing all it can to maintain a podium place.
